[ANSWER]Nursing 442 Gerontological Nursing Online Course Assignment 4 – Aging Adults Living on the Streets: Living Conditions, Health Outcomes, and Implications for Policy and Nursing

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Gerontological Nursing Online Course

For older adults, living on the streets compounds their already poorer health outcomes. Compared to younger people, older adults have higher morbidity and mortality rates across numerous health domains due to their advanced age (Lane & Reed, 2019). Being homeless worsens these outcomes (Crane & Joly, 2014).

Among the major Gerontological Nursing Online Course health issues faced by homeless older adults, especially those who become homeless for the first time during old age, includes asthma and related respiratory illnesses, circulatory problems, diabetes, gastrointestinal complications, arthritis, and poor oral health (Reynolds et al., 2016).

This subpopulation also has a higher incidence of foot problems, sexually transmitted infections, and injuries (Public Health Ontario, 2019). Other indicators of poorer health outcomes amongst older adults living on the streets include Gerontological Nursing Online Course high hospitalization and emergency room visits (Brown et al., 2015; Kushel, 2011).

Older adults living on the streets also grapple with a high prevalence of functional limitations, disability, cognitive impairment, as well as behavioral problems such as alcohol and substance abuse (Ailshire et al., 2018; Crane & Warnes, 2010; Reynolds et al., 2016). Many of the homeless older adults experience significant difficulty in performing one or more activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living (Kushel, 2011).

Additionally, many older adults living on the streets live with urinary incontinence and have deficits in hearing, vision and mental functions (Henwood et al., 2019). These impairments make it difficult for homeless older adults to take care of themselves (Cimino et al., 2015).

Combined, poorer health outcomes, disability and behavioral problems elevate homeless older adults’ risk for mortality and reduce their life expectancy Gerontological Nursing Online Course (Barken et al., 2015; Grenier et al., 2016).

Besides physical health outcomes, functional limitations and disability, living on the streets worsens older adults’ psychosocial health, quality of life, and subjective wellbeing. Research has shown that a sizeable percentage of homeless adults has severe mental illness (Ailshire et al., 2018). Anxiety, depression, psychosis, and posttraumatic stress disorder are…[Buy Full Answer for Just USD 9: 3217 WORDS]

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